Owner of lost whippet won't give up hope

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NEW YORK, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The owner of the prize-winning whippet that escaped while being loaded into an airplane in New York City says she won't give up the search.

Dog owner Jil Walton, and the whippet's trainer, Paul Lepiane, have stayed in New York City since the end of the Westminster Dog Show. Champion Bohem C'est La Vie, who answers to the nickname Vivi, escaped Wednesday as her travel cage was being loaded onto a flight, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

The dog owner, trainer, animal control officers and airport security searched for the dog for two days and then put out a trap with dog food to lure the dog.

"We have a little bit of hope because the airport radar ... had an animal about her size moving toward the runways last night," Walton said. "They sent out a patrol to check and they found nothing. It's all totally grasping at straws, but it's something."